Member Article

Chancel Repair Liability

Purchasers of new property continue to be surprised by one consideration in relation to their new investment - the potential to have to pay money to the local church. Such a payment sounds quite archaic, but the obligation on owners of former rectorial land to meet the costs of repairing the church chancel still exists today. In 1995 Mr. and Mrs Wallbank received a nasty surprise when their Parochial Church Council served a notice on them requiring them to foot the bill for repairs to their parish church amounting to some £95,000. They resisted payment, and the case went all the way to the House of Lords1. It was argued that the requirement to pay the money was contrary to the Human Rights Act 1998. The House was unimpressed by the argument put forward, and the Wallbanks were ordered to pay the money.

According to estimates there are up to 5,200 churches in England and Wales which may benefit from chancel repair liability. A purchaser of property who fails to investigate the issue now may have a nasty surprise in the next few years. It is hard to determine exactly which properties are subject to the obligation, as there is no single register of rectorial land and the rules governing liability are not straight forward. There are service providers which will undertake a search for you, and where the result indicates a potential liability, the purchaser should seriously consider taking out insurance, which for a one off premium of between £200 and £900 will cover any liability for the next 25 years for the buyer and any mortgagee and successors in title. This may seem to be yet another expense in the already costly process of moving house and buying property, but the alternative may be a much greater charge further down the line.

Claire Waller is in the commercial property department at Watson Burton LLP. If you have any questions on this article or any other commercial property issue you can contact her on 0191 244 4444 or at claire.waller@watsonburton.com

1 Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley Parochial Church Council v Wallbank and another [2003] UKHL 37

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .